New senate TVs facing technical difficulties

The new 60" flat screen televisions ordered by Student Senate for the Huntington Union Building and Loew-Brenn Hall lounge are still not online. Senate and tech services have been working on the $3,500 TVs since June.

The new 47” and 55” flat screen televisions ordered by Student Senate for the Huntington Union Building and Loew-Brenn Hall lounge are still having issues. Senate and tech services have been working on getting the TVs up and running since June.

The LG TVs will be used for advertisements – both for students and local businesses in Huntington, junior Tyson Kalischuk, senate treasurer, said.

“We are currently in communication with a variety of other companies in the community of Huntington that are interested in this advertising opportunity,” he said. “We hope that the advertisement slides will directly benefit students on campus. Senate hopes that students will become aware of local businesses, support them and inevitably better their university experience.”

Businesses can purchase advertisements on the TVs for four, eight or 16 weeks.

Both TVs cost around $3,500 total, and the president’s office has covered a large majority of the expense. Senate initially asked last year’s Student Activities Board staff and Huntingtonian staff to put money toward the TVs.

Kalischuk said the advertisements on the TVs will cover the initial cost. So far, senate has received one advertisement from Z-place Pizza and is working on an advertisement from Applebee’s. Each senate member is currently reaching out to local businesses for more advertisements, Kalischuk said.

“Once we cover the initial cost of the TVs, we will begin allocating the extra revenue,” he said. “Once the TVs are paid off, half of the revenue from the advertisement slides will go toward funding additional TVs for the future and the other half will go towards adding another Impact Initiative Scholarship.”

The advertising software that came with the TVs, Ez Sign, has been the biggest issue even though the Habecker Dining Commons TV, which uses the same software, has been working since the beginning of the semester.

“Student Senate is aware of the technical difficulties and problems with the TVs,” he said. “We will continue to work through the issues, hopefully resolving them quickly, and better serving the student body. We hope that everyone understands when you start something new that hasn’t been done before you will go through problems and won’t always be implement effectively. We hope to improve and get the technology working smoothly.”

Regardless of the technical issues, senate still believes the TVs are a great addition to campus, Kalischuk said.

“Student Senate and myself fully believe that the TVs are a great investment for campus,” he said. “The TVs are going to provide students a better, more professional means to advertising events or updates on campus. The TVs will always be focused towards the students and the university first. Senate does not want the advertisement slots to overpower campus updates and news.”